By: Diane Benjamin There are people in Bloomington who don’t care what high taxes under Tari Renner are doing to the poor. How many Bloomington residents know the City DOUBLED the amount landlords pay to register properties? Who is hurt? Renters – the poor. If any members of the Council complain about high rents so […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight there is a mayoral debate at the Doubletree – 7:00pm. Come early, at least some candidates will be there early. Two candidates won’t be there: Diana Hauman and Robert Fike Either they aren’t serious candidates or they are afraid to answer questions, the debate is being held by Cities 92.9. Tari […]
By: Diane Benjamin From the Illinois Comptroller website: Allin At a Glance In 2016 they borrowed $103,309 and paid back $39,131 http://warehouse.illinoiscomptroller.com/ProcessSearchResults.cfm In 2015 they borrowed $45,000 and paid back $10,000 Source: 2015 In 2014 they borrowed $90,000 and paid back $68,000. Source: 2014 Anybody see a problem? (These are numbers Allin Township gave the Comptroller!) […]
By: Diane Benjamin This morning the archived video of last night Council meeting was still missing the first 35 minutes. At some point today the entire video was located! So who screwed up? (you will never know) One Public Comment you don’t want to miss is a dad who has coached his kid’s soccer team […]
By: Diane Benjamin At last night’s City Council meeting some aldermen were upset by a Public Comment where the person evidently tried to campaign or something. Alderman Fruin wants rules against it. No, you can’t see the comment in question. Meanwhile, Mayor Tari Renner evidently gave a campaign speech and called it the State of […]
By: Diane Benjamin Below is a brief recap of things I’ve written about previously: Comprehensive City Manger reports are no longer issued because Hauman thinks they are a waste of money. Now citizens have no idea how tax receipts are trending. See email HERE This email also sounds like she doesn’t care about speakers at […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tonight on the agenda for the Normal Town Council is reauthorizing the lease of 104 W North Street to Dan Brady for $1 per year and FREE to Rodney Davis. This note is included on PDF page 63: http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2273 If Normal actually read the law, they might find it is illegal to […]
By: Diane Benjamin Every major news source in Bloomington-Normal is supported by thousands of your tax dollars. In less than two years your tax dollars went to: Pantagraph: $338,493.91 WJBC etc: $148,965.78 Cities 92.9 etc: $30,474.30 City governments send regular payouts to these entities for thousands of dollars in what they call advertising. Not limiting themselves […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the packet for the Town of Normal Council meeting Monday night here: http://normal.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/2249 Portillo Summary: The project is being done by a developer – Bloomington Landmark Development Inc Despite the name, this company has a Chicago agent and address: CT CORPORATION SYSTEM Normal is rebating Sales taxes of $1,825,000 PLUS interest […]
By: Diane Benjamin The 2016 fiscal year for Bloomington ended April 30, 2016. The only financial information issued so far is the treasurer’s report: http://www.cityblm.org/index.aspx?page=21&parent=36 Issuing financial reports normally takes a ridiculous 6 months. That would be October. It’s now the end of November and still nothing. Did the City finance department screw up the […]
By: Diane Benjamin If the massive tax and spending increases Renner and Council have handed taxpayers aren’t evidence of a need for HUGE changes in Bloomington – Monday night you give you another reason. A 3rd TIF District! Did Bloomington elect a Chris Koos for mayor? Koos has FIVE TIF districts. He has buried Normal […]
By: Diane Benjamin I reported in September Normal’s funding of Police and Fire pensions was dismal: https://blnnews.com/2016/09/26/normal-what/ While Chris Koos was busy creating his vision for “Uptown”, he forgot the Town’s other needs. One of those is funding pensions for the essential personnel citizens really want – Police and Fire. Somehow the employees on IMRF […]
By: Diane Benjamin At Monday’s Council meeting questions were raised as to why a 10 year old building wasn’t ADA compliant. City staff said they were investigating. All the City has to do is talk to people who were involved before it was built. I did. Karen Schmidt was on the Council – did they […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday layoff notices were sent to employees of Connect Transit. Illinois law requires a 60 day notice be sent to the State and employees. Connect Transit is asking people to contact their representatives. Your representatives need to hear both sides of the story. Yes, people will suffer if the buses shut down. […]
See Part 1 here: https://blnnews.com/2016/10/09/the-end-of-bloomingtonnormal-as-we-know-it/ Part 2 by: Lawrence Butts Illinois State University . The bubble that higher education is currently riding high on is about to burst. The first question that will be asked is “ISU is doing great, they fill their enrollment every year – how are they in trouble?” Yes, for the […]
By: Diane Benjamin Instead of controlling pension costs and the Medicaid spending bankrupting the State of Illinois, lawmakers want you to think locking in spending for infrastructure is a good idea. The unions love it – they will have security if it passes, the rest of us will pay dearly. Just like Bloomington set up […]
By: Diane Benjamin Chris Koos CAN’T stop spending your money. A new library is on the way, not for books – he’s creating a social and fun club and expecting all of you to participate. Think Uptown events. Government controls your life – you aren’t allowed to make independent decisions because he is abolishing capitalism. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Last night Normal voted to waste more taxpayer money on consultants. They already know they want an expensive underpass, but they are spending $1.4 million+ on another study anyway. As of March 31, 2016: http://warehouse.illinoiscomptroller.com/LandingPage.cfm?code=064/095/31&searchtype=allunits&originalSearchString=Normal%20-%20a%20Town%20in%20Mclean%20County%20-%20064/095/31&CFID=11824458&CFTOKEN=2f4040be3c789a16-9F1393A4-5056-93B5-5E7A726C9A88D866 From the link above – click View Data – Indebtedness 2014 Total Debt: $86,788,630 2015 Total Debt: […]
By: Diane Benjamin Some regimes hold their populations hostage at gun point, other do it with debt. Normal is using debt for your entertainment. The Town must not appreciate their public safety personnel. If you missed it, police and fire pensions are seriously underfunded while the staff has plenty of room to collect their retirements. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Yesterday Alderman Kevin Lower announced he is running for Mayor of Bloomington. Alderman Hauman declared citizens now have 3 distinct choices. Really Diana? The only difference between you and Tari is you want even MORE spending downtown! I believe you mentioned a downtown dog park, green space, and a fountain during your […]
By: Diane Benjamin Source: http://warehouse.illinoiscomptroller.com/ProcessSearchResults.cfm?DisplayMode=GETAFR&AFRDesiredData=Pension%20Funds%20/%20Retirement%20Benefits&Code=064/095/31&CFY=2016&Menu=Yes&PrintIt=No Normal has their 2016 report entered on the Illinois Comptroller’s website. Normal’s Year End was 3/31/2016. Are they opting not to fund pensions? (click to enlarge) All pension funding has dropped! Police and Fire pension funding isn’t sustainable! Where do the unions stand? Tax receipts next! . . .
By: Diane Benjamin Nothing citizens said at the Citizen’s Summit mattered. Nothing Bring It On Bloomington said mattered either. The Budget Task Force was a joke. The Downtown Stakeholders meeting held last night was equally for show, except the City most likely bought the food that was served. The stakeholders nixed a downtown hotel! Therefore, […]
By: Diane Benjamin State Farm is facing a $7.6 BILLION class action lawsuit. What effect will that have the local economy? At the end of 2015, State Farm reported a Net Worth of $82.7 Billion. http://www.mcgisweb.org/Html5Viewer/index.html?viewer=public The lawsuit is close to 10% of their total value. Keep spending Bloomington/Normal – at least towns (unlike states) […]
By: Diane Benjamin Something happened at the Bloomington Council meeting last night that wasn’t on the agenda! I hope the Live Stream is permanently repaired before the next meeting. It didn’t work last night. Tom Dabareiner, Community Development, stated that a meeting will be held on September 22nd – but it’s only for the downtown […]
By: Diane Benjamin If losing close to $10,000,000 a year isn’t enough, Connect Transit is now funding bike lights in Uptown. Of course, the Town of Normal is footing part of the bill too – along with bike safety checks. I’m sure Mayor “bike-shop-owner” Koos will participate too. That’s not the lunacy however! I can’t […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Connect Transit July loss report is out. This is before the route changes were enacted in August. July is the first month in their fiscal year. Of course they lost money: All of this information is in the 8/23/16 packet: http://www.connect-transit.com/about/trustees/packet.asp Note that Connect Transit PLANS to lose more than $12,000,000 […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has been running this ad on Facebook: I will wait for you to stop laughing! waiting . . . waiting . . . Today an entire article is devoted to praising the City of Bloomington’s for closing last year under budget. Some things they meant to mislead you about: (tonight: […]
More current information: July-Jobs-Report-Unemployment-Rate-Drops-as-Illinois-Workforce-Shrinks-by-33600-during-summer-moving-season/ . IRS Migration Data: Taxpayers Leave NY, IL & CA For TX, FL & SC The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) just released its July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014 migration data, which “approximates the number of individuals” who moved between states in the U.S. California was the third largest net […]
By: Diane Benjamin If government wants to help a segment of people: It has to steal money from some to hand to others It has to remove any incentive for personal responsibility It has to weaken the economy by not allowing earners to keep their money It has to pay bureaucrats to administer programs It […]
By: Diane Benjamin It’s great to have a plan, but Bloomington is going to create debt that future Councils have to deal with. Tari Renner promised to fix the roads. He didn’t promise to raise taxes to do it, and he sure didn’t say it would take borrowing tons of money to do it. Keep […]
By: Diane Benjamin I find it hilarious that Renner’s claim to economic development victories include two businesses stolen from Normal: Dick’s Sporting Goods and a Kroger’s Superstore. Both wanted more room, more room just happen to available in Bloomington – of course tax rebates didn’t hurt. He still claims Greentop, Hy-vee, and now Ovation theaters. […]
By: Diane Benjamin The next Board meeting for Connect Transit is July 26th at 4:30. Meetings are held in the Board Room at 351 Wylie Drive, Normal. The packet for the meeting has not been posted yet, but Connect Transit’s year-end was 6/30/2016. This meeting packet will show the total operating losses for the entire […]
By: Diane Benjamin When government thinks they are helping people they are really robbing the population – the ones paying the bills and the ones receiving goods or services. Obviously if you are forced to give your money to the government for things you never use, want, or need your wallet is being fleeced. Many […]
By: Diane Benjamin I rarely write about Normal because the citizens never get outraged. What does it take? Bankruptcy? Tonight: Chris Koos had to know the Mitsubishi plant was already sold to a liquidator, but took a trip funded by you to Germany anyway: Hope the Council enjoyed eating at your expense: Do residents […]
By: Diane Benjamin Tari Renner was quoted in today’s paper: “No tax dollars that we’re currently getting will go to this project”. Judy Markowitz said the same thing about the Coliseum. She hired consultants – they were WAY OFF projections: https://blnnews.com/2016/02/11/the-tale-of-the-coliseum-tari-a-hotel/ Tari, please explain where the money to pay SB Friedman to consult came from? […]
By: Diane Benjamin The Pantagraph has a long history of “floating” ideas fed to them from local government. It’s always the first step in making happen what government wants to happen. Watchdogs they aren’t. The last example was “sharing sales tax” – first mentioned in the paper and expanded since. Sunday more ideas were floated […]
By: Diane Benjamin See the 2017 Airport proposed budget here: FY2017 Draft budget-1 The far right column below is part of the budgeted revenue for 2017. State grants: $132,024 Federal grants: $5,895,954 Note – the Feds are paying $2,500,000 or the $3,500,000 interior rehab mentioned in the last article. The Feds are also paying for […]
By: Diane Benjamin Update to this story from yesterday: https://blnnews.com/2016/04/14/airport-report/ I received this explanation from Carl Olson (airport manager) about the $9.3 Million reflects as Investments: I received a copy of the proposed budget – a note was included that it will be voted on at the May meeting. See it here: FY2017 Draft budget-1 […]
By: Diane Benjamin On March 31st I gave you the budget history since Tari was elected Mayor: https://blnnews.com/2016/03/31/in-honor-of-taris-re-election-bid/ There was very little discussion last night before the budget passed as proposed – 6- YES to 2- NO. David Sage was first – he’s very concerned but voted YES anyway. Keep listening through Jim Fruin’s comments. […]
By: Diane Benjamin Illinois Comptroller, Leslie Munger, posted this video on Facebook recently. I guess she assumes everybody is on Facebook, if you can’t see it and aren’t on Facebook, that’s why. It’s a devastating look at Illinois finances. Bloomington is right behind Illinois now. Buying votes with projects citizens don’t want, control development, and […]
